To buy or not to buy

I just got done getting off my spending spree wannabe kick. I got a CETME for $550 lock and stock out the door that still had cosmoline on it. Somehow I went into spending mode, looking at parts kits for AK,AR, FAL, and looking at homebuild kits. It took me two days for the kick to pass. Study for an hour, research potential purchases for an hour, thanking the fact the fiancee was at her parent's house for the weekend.

Well the parts kits I wanted turned out not to be in stock but were up for potential back order, I discovered just how sparse everything is getting, even CETMEs and FALs are drying up, I even looked at getting a Galil to satiate my craving. And discovered just how techinically involved and beyond me those homebuild kits are. So the kick passed about an hour ago. I did learn a lot though. I had seven hundred dollars left over from my CETME and additional Ruger P90(she loves mine so I got another one) from my disposable recreational spending stash.

It almost felt fated that I should start stocking up now. I got six more customers to mow yards for (the guy doing yards in the neighborhood just up and left for greener pastures as the elderly folks realized I was capable of doing for them for $20 that he was asking $40 for, and I wasn't looking to compete), So I'm up to $130 in savings, $130 in disposable spending and I'm be padding my future mower and weed eater savings with an extra $60, I was netting $15 a yard after gas when it was above $3.80, and no less than $5 went towads future mower purchase and repairs, now with gas having gone down like it has it's up over $7. I also got five more people asking for my pet sitting services for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season who paid ahead of time (I give a 20% discount for early headsup) and will be totaling nearly $600 for the holiday season. I got a customer who wants me to, during my Christams break, paint the inside of their house after a small electrical fire, the guys who did the bid wanted 2.3K and I'll do it for $500 which is less than their deductible, it'll take me an afternoon, I guarantee my work and have done it for other folks in the neighborhood, plus I have a 2nd-hand paint sprayer which cuts the time significantly. Oh and I got booked in a focus group for $150 for three hours of my time. So I felt flush and was looking to spend, spend, spend. And now the kick has passed.

I'm thinking there are a lot folks like me out there for whom the kick didn't pass before they stocked up on more. And with the economy going the way it is I'm not sure spending a lot right now is the smart way to go. Oh I did order up a 1k of non-reloadable .308 for the CETME and 500 rounds of reloadable and that set me back enough I could have maybe bought a low-grade AK for, certainly a Saiga before centerfiresystems ran out.

We all know semi rifles are getting harder and harder to come by and people are spending like they wouldn't ordinarily but is there a chance that the rate purchases could keep going for more than another couple of months, and even if it does, what if the economy keeps going downhill given most of the experts can't even see a bottom in sight. Will there be folks at gunshows hoping to recoup most of their purchase when they need to make mortgage and car payments? Could there be a minor surplus in semis coming or are the suppliers maybe not racketing up production that high with cautious foresight, keeping production level with explicit ordered demand, not going well we got 1000 orders so lets make 1200 just to be sure.

Just some random thoughts, what do you all see coming down the pipe with the economy, the AWB that might not come for a couple of years or maybe never at all, I'm thinking the gun industry might get so bloated with what may be an artificial demand that they might end up overproducing and then suffering for it in turn when the demand drys up because of the economy.

I'm going to take the remaining on hand $300 (after .308 stockup) and get myself a Mosin Nagant for under a $100 and get a thousand plus rounds for it.

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Eightball

November 23, 2008, 03:09 PM

what do you all see coming down the pipe with the economy, A new "New Deal" that will screw the economy terribly, but that's too political.

the AWB that might not come for a couple of years or maybe never at all, I'd be willing to bet you $20 it'll come within the first 6 months, maybe 8.
I'm thinking the gun industry might get so bloated with what may be an artificial demand that they might end up overproducing and then suffering for it in turn when the demand drys up because of the economy.I somehow don't think so; they already had an AWB I to go through, and hopefully learned something from it. Even if they overproduce, it won't be by much, is my bet. As for weather or not the prices will ever go back down......I doubt it; it seemed ARs were less expensive before AWB I, went up in price during, and never dropped, and I think we'll see the same thing happening again this go-round.

Just my $.02

P.S. Good idea buying the ammo for your new acquisition. Got any pictures?

DRYHUMOR

November 23, 2008, 03:16 PM

"disposable recreational spending stash"

I need one of those.

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